First Listen: Killer Mike’s “R.A.P. Music”

Michael Render hasn’t ever been one to bite his tongue in the face off his detractors, and he sure as hell won’t stop now. Killer Mike’s latest LP, R.A.P. Music, with cohort El-P could potentially be his most prolific piece of seething social commentary to date. The album’s release is just over a week away now and the ATL rap activist has put the record online for all to hear via a free stream at SPIN.

R.A.P. Music is about the message first and foremost, so I’d advise anyone pressing play to block out a chunk of your evening and give it your undivided attention while Mike laces together tales of everything from Reagonomics to feminism and everything in between. It’s sure to incite some nostalgia to the older heads, and to the young blood it’ll serve as a vivid history lesson told in first-person.

For full enlightenment, Click here to listen courtesy of SPIN and also read Mike’s track-by-track commentary. After that, all that’s left to do is pre-order the album on iTunes.

Bang. Bang. Bang.
You can hear the Chuck D. in his voice over The Bomb Squad sonic landscape. That is one of the highest compliments I can pay, Killa Kill and El Producto truly brought it on here. Makes me smile, makes me feel it in the chest when something current drops that brings me back to the cassette tape/Walkman era. When you can feel that influence without a hint of biting. Beautiful.